Ad Fontes

Acts 8:37?

NT Textual Criticism can seem esoteric and maybe some of it is. However, you may run into text-critical issues and decisions far more than you think you do. If you are using a translation of the scriptures (or of any other text) a number of different decisions and interpretations have already been made for you. Sometimes the editor and translators will call alert you to their decision in the footnotes and or margin notes of your chosen translation.

Disclaimer: The following summary is an oversimplification of how textual critical decisions are made. In general, I would say that text-critical decisions are made by those that follow into the following three main camps of reasoning:

  • (a) Those that go with the reading found in earlist available text or texts
  • (b) Those that go with the reading vast majority of textual witnesses
  • (c) Those that go with the reading they think reflects the text that their faith community has historical used and or that the church fathers used.

Now, If you own an English translation of the New Testament turn to Acts chapter 8. Now, check do you have verse 37 in the main body of your text or in a footnote? Are, you provided with any information about the manuscript evidence and different points of view? Which of the three camps mentioned above do you think the translators and or editors of your translation fall into at Acts 8:37?

Just for fun here are a few other opinions:

CASES FOR

CASES AGAINST

NEUTRAL / EXPLANATORY

Why Is Acts 8:37 Omitted from Some Translations and not Others? https://blog.logos.com/why-some-translations-include-acts-837-and-others-dont/

What do you think? How do you read the text?

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